Nigeria at an Urgent Crossroads
Please watch the attached prayer video to understand the torment that Africa's most populous nation is undergoing due to the national battles against widespread corruption and the radical Islamic group, Boko Haram, which has killed or kidnapped thousands of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray for the important national election on February 14 that good, strong, honest leadership will be put in place to guide the nation into a better future.
Hundreds of girls abducted. Children used as suicide bombers. Whole villages wiped off the map. Nigeria faces a burgeoning genocide by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. This humanitarian crisis has already taken roughly 16,000 lives and affected three million people since 2011. A recent attack may have been the deadliest yet, with some reporting as many as 2,000 casualties. As the February 14 election draws near, the violence has intensified.
Ranked number ten on the World Watch List for persecution, this devastated nation saw the largest number of Christians martyred for their faith in 2014. Though over half of Nigerians claim Christianity, Islamic sharia law has been implemented in one third of the states.
But with persecution has come an increase in unity and prayer in the very large and growing Nigerian church. We join with a Nigerian believer in praying, "May the Holy Spirit embolden us to follow Christ with renewed devotion and dedication, because no force shall destroy the church of God in northern Nigeria."
Together let's watch and pray,
The Prayercast Team
prayercast.com
a ministry of OneWay
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Is China ready to send out missionaries?
The past decade has seen a groundswell of passion among Christians in China to pursue cross-cultural ministry. A corresponding wave of activity among outside organizations and churches has aimed at equipping China's church for this task. Much of this activity has focused on training individual workers and establishing the ‘highway’ by which they might make their way to countries neighbouring China and beyond. A closer look at the current movement suggests that, while these efforts are an important part of the overall equation, there are other, perhaps more fundamental, pieces that need to be put in place in order for a sustained sending effort to emerge. The growth of mature sending movement will take time. Some have suggested that internships with international agencies may be a wise intermediate step for equipping the future leaders of this movement.
Alpha in Kenya sees huge growth thanks to Compassion partnership
More than 15,000 Kenyan young people have undertaken the Alpha course, thanks to a unique partnership between Alpha and Compassion International. Compassion, which engages in anti-poverty and educational programmes through child sponsorship, partners with local evangelical churches in 26 countries around the world. It aims to offer children and young people a ‘holistic’ curriculum which includes their physical, spiritual, socio-emotional and intellectual development. Alpha's evangelistic programme, founded at Holy Trinity Brompton and based on talks on Christian basics and small group discussions over a meal, has been widely used in the UK and elsewhere. A Compassion report on its partnership with Alpha in Kenya says the Alpha Youth course helps young people address doubts about their faith in a supportive setting. Compassion Kenya Director, Joel Macharia, says: ‘It attempts to answer the questions and to resolve the conflicts between individual beliefs and sound biblical teachings that the individual takes personal responsibility for his or her beliefs and feelings.’
Immigration stories horrify parliamentary group
A new parliamentary inquiry has called for a 28-day cap on the time that anyone can be held in immigration detention in the UK, to end the indefinite detention of migrants and asylum-seekers. The All Party Inquiry into the Use of Immigration Detention in the UK said that current Home Office guidance - which said that detention should be used sparingly - was ineffective, and was not being followed. The Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather, who chaired the inquiry, said: ‘We believe the problems that beset our immigration occur quite simply because we detain far too many people unnecessarily, and for far too long. The current system is expensive, ineffective, and unjust.’ A new parliamentary inquiry has called for a 28-day cap on the time that anyone can be held in immigration detention in the UK, to end the indefinite holding of migrants and asylum-seekers.

